noun
- Modern name Scilla. a rock in the Strait of Messina off the S coast of Italy.
- Classical Mythology. a sea nymph who was transformed into a sea monster: later identified with the rock Scylla.Compare Charybdis(def 2).
Idioms
- between Scylla and Charybdis, between two equally perilous alternatives, neither of which can be passed without encountering and probably falling victim to the other.
noun
- Greek myth a sea nymph transformed into a sea monster believed to drown sailors navigating the Strait of Messina. She was identified with a rock off the Italian coastCompare Charybdis
- between Scylla and Charybdis in a predicament in which avoidance of either of two dangers means exposure to the other
n.sea-monster in the Strait of Messina, from Latinized form of Greek Skylla, of unknown origin, perhaps related to skyllein “to tear.” see between a rock and a hard place (Scylla and Charybdis).